Cicadas!!

So here I am in Lebanon, TN and it turns out that this year is the year where all of the 13-year-cycle cicadas come out of the ground and swarm everywhere. In the trees. On the fences. Squished bug corpses covering the sidewalk. Its kind of nasty. Oh, and they make lots and lots of noise. One by itself isnt too loud, but when you've got 8000+ bugs in a single tree and you walk under it, your ears start hurting. Like you just spent 3 hours at a rock concert. The only good thing is that they are harmless, don't carry any diseases, and they are edible. (Note: Just because something is edible does not mean that eating it is a good idea.)

So I guess I am fortunate to be able to see these incredible bugs, seeing as they only come out every 13 years. A mission only lasts for 2 years, and one of them happens to be the same year that the cicadas come out. Lucky me! This earth has so many interesting things in it that you never really think about too often. I will always be grateful to my Heavely Father for giving me the opportunity to spend some time here. The Earth really is a beautiful place. One of my favorite shows to watch back home was Planet Earth. I am continually amazed at some of the creatures, scenes, and phenomena that are portrayed in it. Sometimes I wonder if we as humans will ever be able to discover it all. The Creation of this planet only gives us a small inkling of how smart God really is.

Music

So here is a picture of me and my little bro (the skinny one) with our guitars sitting on top of a hill in our backyard some time ago. I figured a nice way to get my thought process going for this blog thing is to find a cool picture, stick it on here, and then write some paragraphs underneath it to tell you why its important. Anyways, there are several reasons why I decided to put this picture up here. Firstly, I love playing my guitar, and since I had to leave my guitar back home when I left on a mission, this picture makes me happy when I look at it. Secondly, it reminds me of the wonderful acoustic music that I used to listen to all the time. Lastly, it has a picture of me with my little brother, who I love very much.

Today I would like to focus on the music aspect of this picture. Music has had a very powerful effect on my life. Wether I am listening to Classical, Jazz, Acoustic, Indie, Bluegrass, Rock, or Techno, it all just puts me in a good mood. I have a habit of only listening to music that makes me feel good and presents a message that I agree with. A lot of the newer more popular music is full of garbage that I dont like, so I usually didn't listen to the radio back home. Several of my friends and peers think I am wierd because I dont like a lot of the stuff people listen to nowadays, but I could care less. I've noticed the difference in my life between when I would conform or when I would listen to uplifting music and decided that the latter option is much more prefferable. When I listen to music that isn't vulgar or immoral, it puts me in a better mood and I am more likely to do the things I am supposed to do as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

God likes music, too. Consider the 150th Psalm from the Old testament, which reads:

 "1) Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his ^asanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

 2) Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

 3) Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

 4) Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and ^aorgans.

 5) Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

 6) Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord."

Obviously, music is something that God has given us, not only to praise him, but to make ourselves happy as well. When we use music the way it was supposed to be used, we will become closer to God and have happier lives in general. We can be inspired to be good Christians and be more inclined to do good in the world, rather than be one of those people who listen to hateful tunes and sulk around all the time because it makes them depressed. So next time you plug something in, no matter what genre it comes from, make sure you listen to something that makes you want to be good.